These chocolate courgette muffins are moist, rich and delicious. But they are healthy too, with wholemeal flour and no butter or refined sugar. Healthy chocolate muffins with courgette are naturally sweetened with apple and honey.
What you'll love about the recipe
- A healthy zucchini chocolate muffin that will leave you feeling satisfied
- Dairy free, with a gluten free option
- Naturally sweetened low sugar chocolate zucchini muffins which are high in fibre to keep you feeling full
- Courgettes add a lovely moist texture to these muffins, as well as extra nutrition
- There's no taste of courgette. No one will notice the hidden vegetables!
You might also like to try these gluten free chocolate muffins with coconut flour, or sweet potato chocolate muffins with oat flour.
Ingredients
Courgettes (also known as zucchini). You'll need a relatively firm medium-sized courgette for this recipe so that it is not too watery.
(If your homegrown courgette glut has turned into marrows, try this marrow soup recipe or tasty marrow curry!)
Apple. Chocolate zucchini muffins with apple are naturally sweet and moist. Use a dessert apple.
Flour. I used plain wholemeal flour. You can also use gluten free flour to make these into gluten free chocolate courgette muffins.
Or use oat flour if you prefer. If you've only got self raising flour, you can use that too, but omit the baking powder.
Cocoa. Essential to give these courgette muffins the best rich deep chocolatey flavour. Use unsweetened cocoa powder.
Eggs add structure and rise to the muffins. They also add extra protein which helps to keep you feeling full.
Olive oil. Chocolate muffins with courgettes are made with oil, but as they are naturally quite moist you'll only need a little.
There's no butter in the recipe, so it is dairy free.
Honey. Healthy chocolate courgette muffins are made without refined sugar. These low sugar muffins are naturally sweetened with fruit and honey. If you prefer, you can use maple syrup instead of honey.
If you want to use sugar rather than honey, add a couple of tablespoons of milk to the batter otherwise it will be too stiff.
Vanilla extract and a pinch of salt both enhance the chocolatey flavour.
Variations
For double chocolate courgette muffins, add 50g dark chocolate chunks or chips to the recipe. These zucchini chocolate chip muffins are doubly irresistible!
Courgette chocolate muffins with nuts are also delicious, and the nuts add extra crunch. Add 50g of chopped nuts to the mix. Pecans and chocolate go very well:)
How to make chocolate courgette muffins
Line a 6-hole muffin tray with paper liners. Even if your tray is non-stick, it'll be easier to remove the muffins from the tray.
This amount of mixture makes 6 large muffins. If you prefer, you can make 8 or 9 smaller muffins or 18-20 mini courgette muffins (ideal for toddlers and kids!).
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (160 fan).
Slice the apple away from the core and trim the ends off the courgette.
Grate the apple and courgette. If you are making the muffins in a food processor you can use the processor to grate the fruit and veg, otherwise use a box grater.
Then place the grated apple and courgette in a sieve or colander. Place over the sink or a bowl, and squeeze down over the surface with a potato masher.
Do this a few times - the aim is to squeeze some of the liquid out so that the muffin batter is not too wet. If you prefer, you can also squeeze the liquid out in a cloth or kitchen paper.
Add the grated courgette and apple to a bowl or food processor. Add all of the remaining ingredients, and either blitz briefly or mix with a spoon until the mixture is an even colour. Don't over-mix the batter.
Spoon the mixture into the lined muffin tray.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes until risen and set. If you are making mini muffins, you'll only need to bake them for 15 minutes.
Remove the muffins from the tray and cool on a wire rack.
Serving and storage
Enjoy these healthy chocolate courgette muffins as an easy snack at any time of the day, including breakfast!
They are also ideal for children's lunchboxes, although for younger children or toddlers, I'd make them a little smaller.
If you want a healthy dessert option with courgette, serve the muffins with this healthy chocolate sauce, with some berries on the side.
Store courgette and chocolate muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
They are also freezer-friendly. Seal them in a bag or freezer-proof box and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
Frequently asked questions
Of course, butter and oil are a great way of keeping muffins moist. However, if you are looking for a healthier option, hidden veggies such as courgettes or zucchini are a nutritious alternative to make delicious moist muffins. In addition, make sure that you don't overbake your muffins as that can dry them out.
Courgettes are a healthy vegetable, high in vitamins, minerals and fibre, and low in calories. However, courgette muffins aren't always a healthy option as they can be very high in sugar and fat. These healthy courgette muffins have less than 200 calories for a large and satisfying muffin and are low in refined sugar and saturated fat.
No, this recipe isn't vegan, although it is dairy free. You can replace the honey with maple syrup, and you'd also need to use an egg replacer such as flax seed. If you do try the recipe with flax seed eggs, please do let other readers know how it goes in the comments section.
Other healthy courgette recipes you might like
You might also like this courgette and apple loaf cake. Again, there's no flavour of courgette but it adds a lovely moist texture.
Or as a change from a sweet courgette muffin, why not try these cheese and courgette savoury muffins? They are an ideal accompaniment to a bowl of soup.
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Recipe
Chocolate Courgette Muffins
Equipment
- 6 hole muffin tray
- paper muffin cases
Ingredients
- 200 g courgette
- 1 dessert apple
- 125 g wholemeal flour or gluten free flour
- 1.25 teaspoon baking powder
- 25 g cocoa
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 eggs
- 3 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Line the muffin tray with paper liners. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (160 fan).
- Core the apple (no need to peel) and trim the ends from the courgette.
- Grate the apple and the courgette. You can either use a box grater or a food processor.
- Place the grated apple and courgette in a colander or sieve over the sink and squeeze down with a potato masher. Some of the juices will run out and can be discarded.
- Add the apple and courgette to a bowl or food processor. Add the flour, baking powder, cocoa, eggs, honey, olive oil, vanilla extract and salt. Either blitz, or mix together with a spoon.
- Spoon the muffin mixture into the lined tray. Bake for 20 minutes. The cooked muffins should be set and risen.
- Cool on a wire tray.
Notes
- For chocolate courgette muffins with nuts, add 50g chopped nuts to the mixture. Pecans are especially good!
- For healthy double chocolate muffins, add 50g dark chocolate chunks or chips.
- This amount of mixture will make 8-9 smaller muffins, or 18-20 mini muffins which are ideal for toddlers and younger children. If you are making mini muffins, they'll just need 15 minutes to cook through.
Nutrition
Please note nutritional information is per serving and is provided for guidance only.
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